


Onboarding

by voiceless_terror



Series: TMA Whumptober [1]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Even though it's for Whumptober, Fainting, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Martin/Jon but it's There, prompt: Falling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voiceless_terror/pseuds/voiceless_terror
Summary: It is on his tenth day in the archives when his new boss Jonathan Sims decides to collapse in front of him.“Congratulations, Mart-o! You’re officially part of the team,” Tim says, his jovial response at odds with the situation. “You’ve caught our resident damsel in distress.”
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Series: TMA Whumptober [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952800
Comments: 33
Kudos: 455





	Onboarding

It is on his tenth day in the archives when his new boss Jonathan Sims decides to collapse in front of him.

Martin knew Jon did not like him. He made that abundantly clear on the first day when he chewed him out in front of all of the assistants after the incident with the dog. To be honest, he thought he deserved it. Sasha had given him a conciliatory pat after it was over, sympathetic but still amused.

“The boss hates dogs,” she provided. “Should’ve brought in a cat. I think he’d fall in love with you on the spot.” _Apparently everyone knows about my crush. Christ, am I that obvious?_

But anyway.

He instinctively moves his arms forward and catches him with a grunt, heart speeding up in worry. “Jon!” he cries, giving him a light shake. “Jon, are you alright?”

The man is completely unresponsive, pale and drawn. Martin, ashamedly, thinks he is beautiful like this (beautiful at any time, really). His face is slack and Martin feels the weight of him in his arms, limp but not heavy. For a few precious seconds his crush overrides his concern and he jumps at the sound of a slow-clap. It is Tim, one eyebrow raised and smirking.

“Congratulations, Mart-o! You’re officially part of the team,” Tim says, his jovial response at odds with the situation. “You’ve caught our resident damsel in distress.”

“I’m sorry, what?” he sputters, looking back down at Jon in concern and adjusting one arm under his knees to lift him further. Jon, again, does not respond. “Aren’t you worried? S-Shouldn’t we be calling an ambulance, or something?”

“Nah,” Tim dismisses, gesturing over to the break room. “Bring ‘im over to the couch, elevate his legs, the usual. Lucky you were around to play hero-he likes to do this at rather inconvenient times. He’ll wake up in a few.”

The thought that Jon fainting all over the institute is a usual occurrence doubles his worry. He rushes behind Tim and lays his boss on the couch, taking care not to jostle him further. He has to stop himself from fixing Jon's hair and tucking it out from behind his back. Tim puts what looks like a folded-up pillow beneath his legs with a practiced ease. Martin stares as Tim pulls out his phone, firing off a text. 

“It’s low blood pressure, I think?” Tim squints in concentration. “He’s been to a doctor for it. If he managed to sleep and eat like a normal person this wouldn’t happen so much. Harder to keep an eye on him when he’s locked up in his office like a little gremlin. Hopefully this is a bit of a wake-up call.” He bends down to brush a lock of hair from Jon’s face, the gesture intimate and fond in a way that Martin hadn’t ever seen from him. There’s care behind it. “I texted Sash, she’ll grab him some food on her way back, shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. In the meantime, there’s Gatorade in the fridge. Watch him ‘til he wakes up?” Martin nods, though he wonders why Tim is fine with leaving Jon alone so quickly. He gets his answer when the man winks and salutes on his way out. _Jesus._

As if on cue, Jon’s eyes begin to flutter and he groans, slowly blinking into awareness. Martin immediately begins to hover uselessly, unsure of how to help. "Jon?” he questions softly. “Jon, are you awake?”

_“Ma’tin?”_ he mumbles, dropping the ‘r’ in his name that Martin has come to find horribly endearing even when he yells. Jon tries to sit up but Martin puts a hand to his chest and stops him, his concern overriding his nervousness at being so close to his boss. “Wha’s happened?”

“You fainted,” Martin quietly replies, rubbing his shoulder in comfort almost unconsciously. It’s an ingrained habit from a time with his mother. She never appreciated it but Jon leans into the touch, so he continues. “Out in the hallway. I brought you in here-”

_“Don’t_ tell anyone,” Jon commands, suddenly sharp even in his current position of lying prone on a couch. “I’m t-terribly sorry to make you deal with all of...this. You can leave me, I’ll be fine in a moment.” His eyes close in exhaustion. "It's no trouble," Martin replies. He thinks this is the first time Jon’s ever apologized to him, though it's not for anything warranting an apology. He makes his way across the room quickly to grab him a drink and doesn’t tell him that everyone already knows.

“When you’re ready,” he says instead. “I’ll help you sit up and you can have a drink, okay?” Jon nods, submitting to Martin’s care with a pliability that must hide under his prickly exterior. Martin shouldn’t like this man. He knows this. It’s inappropriate and irrational. But times like these, when his little vulnerabilities poke through, show a different person- someone a bit softer, someone who Martin could make laugh and maybe take out to dinner and talk to. He’s seen the way Tim and Sasha are with him- soft and familiar with easy banter. Jon sometimes smiles at them, even as he grumbles under his breath. Martin would like to see that smile leveled at him. But this is fine for now.

Jon lets him maneuver him into a sitting position, even lets him hold the drink in his hand as Jon takes a sip. His eyes are beginning to clear and Martin is sure the man will feel horribly embarrassed about this later, though he has no reason to be. Everyone needs a bit of help now and then. “I-Is everything alright?” he hazards, hoping it doesn’t break their fragile connection.

Jon sighs, looking more tired than ever. “I-I haven’t been sleeping much,” he admits to Martin’s shock. He hadn't been expecting an answer. _Must really be out of it._ “Sometimes I- I really don’t think I’m good enough to do this.” He hunches down, refusing to meet Martin’s eyes and curling his arms around his stomach. 

“Of course you are!” Martin immediately disputes. “It’s not your fault Gertrude left this place a mess. You’ve been really good at, er- at general archiving!” Martin does not know what this means. Martin does not know how an archive is run. And maybe Jon doesn’t either, but pointing that out certainly won't help.

Jon lets out a weak scoff but his lips tick upward and his face flushes. “Thanks, I guess.”

There’s silence. Martin opens his mouth to praise him more and maybe get that smile but Sasha chooses that time to make her entrance, slamming the door open with a stern expression while the two of them jump in their seats. “I heard _someone_ hasn’t been taking care of themselves!” She’s carrying a rather large bag of take out and Jon groans, giving Martin a betrayed glance.

Sasha begins her scolding and Martin hears Jon’s weak protests as he slips out the door, not wanting to intrude. He knows he is only tolerated in doses, and he doesn’t want to stick around to see Jon’s face twist into a scowl. He’d rather keep that little smirk in his memory and hope that one day he can get something more.

* * *

Two days later, Martin comes back from lunch to a file on his desk and a sticky note attached. His heart drops- after Sasha (and later Tim) had submitted Jon to their insistent care he’d been much less taciturn, even going so far as to have coffee with them in the morning, if only for ten or so minutes. He walks out the door with them at five, even if Tim has to drag him bodily from his office. Jon hasn’t yelled at him yet, perhaps he is still feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation. But Martin has never gotten a nice note from his boss and he braces for the worst as he grabs the file.

_This Latin translation is passable,_ the note reads in an elegant if messy script. It might just be the nicest thing Jon has ever said to him. Er, written.

He keeps the note tacked on his desk. If Jon notices, he says nothing. Tim and Sasha do, however. But the teasing is gentle even if it turns the tips of his ears red.

After all, it just means he’s part of the team.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! It's day two of Whumptober, and while I have fics for both days' original prompts, they aren't quite ready yet. So I decided to post this one in the interim, which was the alternative prompt 'falling'. I'm not going to have fics out for it every day, but I definitely am going to try to as many as possible for the month since I have so many ideas.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts. You can reach me @voiceless-terror on tumblr.
> 
> Until next time!


End file.
